Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-08-04
WHERE THEFT WAS UNKNOWN.
Remarkable Condition of California When
Gold Was Discovered.

Remarkable Condition of California When
Gold Was Discovered
remarkable state of aft airs existed in
California for the first year after the dis
covery of gold, says H. II. Bancroft in
popular Tribunals" The first miners
were made up in great measure of men
already living here; they were honest men
and had deserted the towns to dig gold
and not to defraud their neighbors. Many
were known to each other, and few were
wholly unknown. Peaceaoly and in a
primitive way each for himself picked
the precious metal from the river-beds
and crevices, washed it from the sands
that lined the streams. or sought a place
of his own to dig for it, with no desire to
enroach on ground chosen by another.
Rights were respected; theft was I'M
known. A pick or shovel thrown upon
the ground, sticks driven into the earth,
Or written or posted notice that q GER
tain spot was claimed was sufficient to Sc
cure it against all corners. Miners lived
much in the open air, in cloth terements
or rude huts, leaving their gold-dust in
bags Or bottles unguarded in tent or cabin.
The merchandise of the trader was Sc
cured only by walls of cloth, which could
be easily cut through with pocket-knife.
from any camp, remained undisturbed
for weeks and months. Hoses and
cattle were safe to roam at large. After
the winter rains had ceased and water
for washing gold had disappeared, in GER
tain localities piles of rich dirt were
thrown up to be washed out when rain
should come again. And though these
heaps were often the result of great labor
and contained much wealth, they remain
ed undisturbed during the summer, and
when autumn came fell to their rightfuI
owners. Differences of opinion were
settled by "leaving 1t to the crowd" And
so it was the first corners found less dis
cord existing here than anywhere else in
Christendom.
Vessels arrived so fast in San Francisco
that they could find no accommodation for
their cargoes on shore. Great quantities
of merchandise of all kinds were dis
charged and piled up along the beach.
All of it was wholly exposed, although
much of it was valuable. Yet all this
time there was scarcely a lock on the
door of any dwelling, store, or warehouse
in San Francisco. During this truly
golden age of integrity it never seemed
to occur to those honest folk that there
were any persons in the world who would
wrongfully take their property from
them. 1t is said that there was but one
case of theft in San Francisco prior to
October, 1S49, and this was Mexican
who stole some blankets, for which he
was publicly whipped On the plaza.
During the autumn of 1S4S there were
no such things along the slopes of the
Sierras as government, judges, sheriffs,
tax collectors, or other officers of the law
A u
upon their good behavior. But in good
time it seemed TO dawn upon the crimi-
mails of the world that a gold yieIdsng
wilderness without Jail or gallows must
be the very paradise fof thieves. And
with the multitudes of honest and erder-
loving men came crowds from the pur-
lieus of crime-convict colonies poured
out their Williams and cities emptied their
SlumS.